Thursday, July 01, 1965

Unmon Bunen (?-949) was a disciple of Seppo and founder of the
Unmon School, one of five schools of Chinese Zen Buddhism (Rinzai,
Igyo, Unmon, Hogen, and Soto).

During the political confusion at the end of the Tang Dynasty
all the major schools of Chinese Buddhism (Tendai, Hosso, Ritsu,
and Shingon) were in decline, except Zen, which was strengthened by
the persecutions and the difficulty in traveling to escape
persecution and to visit and to visit various Zen Masters. The hard
practice of Sep-po and Un-mon during that time has been and still
is a good example for all Zen students.

Introductory Word:

Introducing, Engo said: To control the world without omitting a
single feather, to stop all the streams of passion without losing a
single drop, this is the great teacher's activity. If you open your
mouth (in a dualistic sense) in his presence, you will fall in
error. Hesitate and you will be lost. Who has eyes to penetrate
barriers of this kind? Ponder the following.

Commentary by Master Suzuki:

"Control" needs some explanation. The man who has realized the
wisdom and virtue of the single-Buddha-mind in which every
existence is one, does not think, speak, or act in a dualistic way
because his view of things, including himself, is based on the
inmost request (the activity of buddha-nature, or the experience of
buddha-nature as the inmost request) of the self-sufficient
mind.

Things are usually viewed as either positive or negative,
material or spiritual, objective or subjective. The positive
materialistic way of life may be more common and naive than the
so-called negative spiritual way of life, and may involve us in
innocent but terrible competition. Eventually this competition
requires from itself a restrictive power. At least a person in a
summer resort cannot be regarded in the same light as a deer in the
mountains. In the negative way of life there may be a resistance to
materialistic power or an indefinite feeling of helplessness in the
face of materialistic power.

Although amicable and sweet, the more primitive materialistic
man is doomed to feel criticized by himself and by others (from
inside and outside his heart). Although pure and immaculate, the
spiritual man will be condemned completely by material power
insensitive to any spiritual subtlety; or he will become lost in a
sort of materialistic merry-go-round.

Accommodation of these two opposite aspects will not satisfy our
inmost desire. When such accommodation is successful it will result
in depravity. When the accommodation is unsuccessful, the friction
of the opposites will kindle a formidable destructive fire. It is
impossible to ignore these contradictory aspects of our visible
world, because they are based on our inmost request for life.

A deeper understanding transcending successful or unsuccessful
accommodation of these aspects is needed. Even though everything is
observed through sense organs in a necessarily dualistic way, it is
possible to not be limited by the duality of the sense world. It
may come through hard practice, but the ordinary observation of our
world with our sense organs is at the same time holy.

In the realm of real experience beyond intellectual formulation
there is no material or spiritual view. The free activity of the
mind and the pursuit of material power is our inmost request. The
idea of matter and spirit are intellectual formulations which are
seen to be non-existent when we resume to the genuine empirical
world in which there is no subjective mind or objective material.
What really exists is our inmost request-always in incessant
activity. In the realm of thinking this inmost request takes the
form of mind and its objects. In true living or experience, which
is Zen, the activity of thinking and the everyday empirical world
is one there, before reflective thinking takes place. The inmost
request plus nothing is our true existence. There is nothing to
control or nothing to lose.

Main Subject:

Attention! Un-mon introducing the subject said, "Although
everyone has the 'Light' within himself, it cannot be seen in one's
'UTTER DARKNESS'. Now what do you think I mean by the 'Light' of
everyone. As no one could answer he said, "A temple store house or
a gate." Then after a while he said, "It would be better not to say
anything, even if it is a good remark."

Note:

By "light" Un-mon meant essential mind or Buddha-mind. Zen
Master Dogen said, "Buddha light does not mean blue, yellow, red,
or white light. It means the great original light in which plants,
trees, and land are perpetually shining. This essential mind cannot
be recognized by our five senses or mental faculties. However, all
our thoughts and sensations are based on this original vitality. It
is because of this vital request (before any empirical thinking)
that our mental and physical faculties serve their purpose just as
birds know when and where to fly. Because of this innermost request
we know what is good and what is bad as a fish knows where to lay
its tremendous eggs without knowing why. We want to know when this
cosmic world started; but even if we knew the answer to this
mystery, we do not know in the same way the answer to why we want
to know.

The mystery of why we pursue truth in the spiritual world, or
physical pleasure in the material world, should be understood as
the vital request of our true nature. Our spiritual and physical
pursuit of life is always carried on in the realm of duality and
this is the ultimate cause of our suffering in this world (four
noble truths). This cause of suffering appears to be dualistic only
in the empirical world. But in reality-in Zen practice-beyond
intellectual formulation, there is no duality. This freedom does
not come from outside nor is it the result of practice. In fact
practice is meaningful and joyous because of this freedom. Practice
vitalized by our inmost request is self-joyous practice. This
practice covers everyday dualistic life. Duality should be realized
as oneness, and oneness should be manifested as duality. The joyous
continuous effort to realize the oneness of duality is the way to
obtain vital religious freedom. Only when we find ourselves
actualizing this freedom by practice do we find the incessant
shedding forth of Buddha light in our life.

The light should not be sought in the visible objective world in
a dualistic way. It is necessary to actualize this light in your
everyday life by your perpetual effort.

This Un-mon said, "Temple storehouse and temple gate. But in
order to prevent all the disciples, the idle seekers, from being
attracted by tentative answers and then forgetting themselves in
dualistic thinking, he added, "Even an excellent word is not better
than saying nothing.

Appreciatory Word of Setcho:

Each one has his own light. But I have toiled to make myself
clear to all of you about the ABSOLUTE DARKNESS where there are
neither flowers nor the shadows of trees.

However, when anyone wants to see; who will not see? Only when
one does not see, does one see.